Velvet Revolution and a Peaceful Split

The Velvet Revolution began on November 17, 1989, with a student demonstration in Prague that was brutally suppressed by riot police. This event sparked widespread public outrage and led to a series of massive, peaceful demonstrations across Czechoslovakia. In Slovakia, the leading civic movement was Public Against Violence (Verejnosť Proti Násiliu – VPN), which quickly gained popular support and coordinated with the Czech Civic Forum. The protests, characterized by the rattling of keys to symbolize the unlocking of doors to freedom, forced the Communist Party to relinquish its monopoly on power by the end of November.

Following the fall of communism, significant political and economic differences emerged between the Czech and Slovak political representations. The Czech side, led by Václav Klaus, advocated for rapid market reforms and a strong federal state, while the Slovak side, led by Vladimír Mečiar, favored a more gradual economic transition and greater autonomy, or even independence, for Slovakia. These diverging visions made the continued existence of a common state increasingly difficult.

Despite initial attempts to preserve a federal arrangement, negotiations between Klaus and Mečiar ultimately led to the decision for a peaceful separation. On July 17, 1992, the Slovak National Council adopted the Declaration of Independence of the Slovak Nation. This was followed by the federal parliament passing the constitutional act on the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. On January 1, 1993, the Czechoslovak Federative Republic peacefully ceased to exist, and the independent Slovak Republic and Czech Republic were established. This remarkably amicable separation is widely known as the "Velvet Divorce." Michal Kováč was elected as the first president of independent Slovakia in February 1993.